GOP’s Heller Survives Challenge in Nevada

LAS VEGAS — Republican Sen. Dean Heller fended off a challenge from Democratic Rep. Shelley Berkley, surviving a national blue wave that also gave Nevada’s six electoral votes to President Barack Obama.

Mr. Heller, a former congressman appointed to the seat in 2011 when the incumbent John Ensign resigned, won by just over 12,000 votes, or about 1% of the electorate, according to unofficial vote tallies. The Associated Press declared Mr. Heller the winner.

The win by Republicans in Nevada doesn’t alter control of the next U.S. Senate, where Democrats are on track to maintain their majority.

There are two remaining Senate races that have yet to be decided. In each of those campaigns – in Montana and North Dakota – the seats are currently controlled by Democrats.

Republicans had once thought they would win a majority in the Senate because most of the seats up for election this year were represented by Democrats.

Mr. Heller’s win represents a rare defeat for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who backed Ms. Berkley in a campaign that saw attack ads on both sides. Mr. Heller’s backers criticized her for her involvement in an ethics scandal, while her supporters have accused him of allowing investors to be cheated while he was secretary of state. Both politicians have denied any wrongdoing.

Voters often followed their party affiliations in the Senate race. At a Reno rally for Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan on Monday, 82-year-old Bea Eichbaum said she was going to vote for Mr. Heller. “Shelley is run by the machine of Vegas,” said Ms. Eichbaum, a Republican.

But at a polling location in Las Vegas, restaurateur Stefan Dimancescu said he voted for Ms. Berkley, even though he only recently moved to Las Vegas from California and didn’t know much about her. “I’m a Democrat so I vote Democrat,” Mr. Dimancescu said.

Political observers said the ground game by Obama volunteers helped turn out the vote for the president and, almost, propelled Ms. Berkley into office. In the end, they say, votes from northern Nevada where Mr. Heller is from helped tilt the election in his favor.

“The enthusiasm here is that if Romney gets elected, 47% of the people won’t matter,” William Prezant, a Reno attorney and former Democratic strategist, said on the eve of the election.